For the Ascension Holiday we took a road trip to Tuscany! We got a headstart and decided to drive just outside of Milan Tuesday night, so we could have a full day in Cinque Terre on Wednesday. This jaunt took about 4 hours (with traffic), and we arrived just before bedtime! It worked out well because we were able to leisurely enjoy Cinque Terre all day on Wednesday. We started in Monterosso, the northernmost town. From here we hiked to Vernazza, and it was much hotter than we expected, so poor Matt kept pulling up his skinny jeans (he was rocking a very Euro look)! The hike was fabulous and the views of the rugged coastline were gorgeous!
We arrived in Vernazza just in time for lunch, so we filled up at a restaurant that was in a castle/fortress-like structure overlooking the Mediterranean - doesn't get much better! All the towns were picturesque, but this was the quintessential "Cinque Terre" town for me, with a proper harbor, terraced olive groves and colorful houses. The seafood pasta and prawns were to die for, so fresh and delicious. Afterward, we enjoyed gelato and walked around the town before catching the train to Corniglia. Here, we literally walked up the stairs to the town, snapped some photos and caught the train to Manarola. It was a quick stop!
In Manarola we walked around a bit more and enjoyed some refreshing beer while we waited for the train.
We wanted to do the short hike from Manarola to Riomaggiore, but most of the trails between the towns were closed from the 2011 flood - bummer (at least we were able to do Monterosso-Vernazza). We had more fresh seafood for dinner in Riomaggiore before heading to our hotel in (unglamorous) La Spezia.
The following day we headed to Florence, with a stop in Pisa to see the tower and Camposanto. Of course, Matt couldn't resist a cheesy photo "holding up the tower"! The place was packed, it was crazy.
We arrived in Florence in the early afternoon. We visited the famous Duomo (wow!), walked around the narrow streets on a free walking tour (only 6 of us on the tour), and made our way across the famous Ponte Vecchio bridge over to Piazza Michelangelo, which had gorgeous, panoramic views of the city. We continued to enjoy the views over some beer at the Piazza's terrace restaurant. So majestic! Our restaurant choice was full for dinner, so we made reservations for the following night. Don't worry, we still found a place to fill up on scrumptious pasta and wine!
Friday was our culture day. We started by visiting the Accademia Gallery, home to David. In the afternoon we visited the Uffizi gallery, filled with Renaissance art from the Medici family. In between we sampled another cultural treat - gelato! We finished the day in a great restaurant we tried to get into the night before but were turned away (so we made reservations for the following night). Florence was spectacular, we really enjoyed it.
Now it was time to explore the Tuscan countryside. On Saturday we started by driving through the side roads of the Chianti region on our way to San Gimignano, a walled medieval hill town famous for its 14 well preserved towers. It's a popular cycling area too, we passed a bunch of groups and had to be careful as the roads can be really narrow and hilly!
Next we visited Siena, a slightly larger town famous for its huge square and green and marble cathedral. The town was a little more rough around the edges than San Gimignano, which gave it a bit more character (it felt more "lived in"). Pretty!
Our next stop was Monticiano, another hill town famous for its wine. As we approached town it started to downpour from a passing cloud, causing us to wait around 20 minutes in the car for the short storm to pass (and blue skies to return). It was the smallest town we visited, but was still full of stone buildings, more windy, little streets and spectacular views.
On the drive to our hotel we took more side roads and drove past a large castle-like building on a cliff. We were intrigued and decided to stop by. It turned out to be the Abbey of Monte Oliveto Maggiore, a working abbey open to the public. After viewing the open rooms we finished our tour in the cellars (Matt even tasted some monk wine)!
We finished the day in our hotel, a converted "castelli" overlooking the countryside (it started as a castle in the 12th century and then turned into a fort). After some Tuscan wine and good food we had a wonderful last night's sleep in dreamy Tuscany.
Our drive home started Sunday morning and we were feeling pretty good. It went well until we reached the Gotthard tunnel through the Swiss Alps (the 3rd longest road tunnel in the world). Unbeknownst to us it is a traffic jam on the weekends, especially holiday weekends. It took us 3 hours of waiting in traffic to make it through the 15km tunnel. Ouch! Slight disaster.
